Ten Years as Brothers: Hogwarts Year One
by Brightpath2
Summary: "Once, so long ago, four boys met at Hogwarts, and became the closest of friends. There they shared adventures and horrors, two of them fell in love, three of them saved the one, and all of them found reasons to fight against the very man that left Harry an orphan. He will know everything, from our first days at Hogwarts, to the war we waged against Voldemort."


**Disclaimer: The characters and creation of Harry Potter is the property of one Witch, J.K. Rowling, not a muggle girl with muggle technology.**

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Prologue

-The Werewolf's Will-

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June 15th, 1998

Harry James Potter sat in number Twelve Grimmauld place and stared blankly at Percy Weasley, almost unable to comprehend what the man was saying.

After the Battle of Hogwarts, Percy had returned to work at the Ministry of Magic, under the current acting Minister, Kingsley Shacklebolt. As of yet, no ministry workers had actual stations, they were just trying to get the Wizarding world back in working order. They'd hardly had people to spare for such things as the Wills of Wizards who had died in the war.

And yet, here Percy was, facing Harry seriously, with an official document and an old cardboard box.

"Remus did what?" he asked again, trying to see if he'd heard Percy correctly.

"He left you everything he owned," Percy said, shrugging. "With an inheritance left to his son of course. Tonks' will is basically all left to the boy, so I suppose Remus didn't feel the need to change his will that much."

"You mean it was like this _before?_ " Harry asked, even more flummoxed than he'd been before.

"As far as the records go, it's been this way for nearly seventeen years," Percy admitted. "Sixteen and a little more than a half if I'm being precise."

Harry knew he was gaping, but he couldn't really help himself. He was still recovering from the battle in a way, and the loss of his father's friend had hit him hard once he'd been able to think about it at all. Remus had sacrificed so much, and then he hadn't even been able to raise his son. Now to hear that he'd named Harry as his basic heir, made Harry feel uncommonly tired and drained.

"I thought it could wait, but I stumbled upon something I thought you might want now," Percy said. "The Minister—"

"You mean Kingsley?" Harry interrupted dully, then winced. He hadn't meant to be blunt, but he'd found he couldn't always help it much lately. He was better when Ron, Hermione, Ginny, or Mrs. Weasley was around, or when he was helping Mrs. Tonks take care of Teddy.

"Of course. Kingsley," Percy amended, pushing his glasses up his nose as they started to slide slightly. "He gave me permission to come deliver it myself, as it's very personal to you, and I thought you might want an explanation with it."

"Well, what is it then?" Harry asked, allowing himself to feel a pang of curiosity.

Percy swallowed, suddenly looking slightly uncomfortable, then opened the will and read just a short section. _"'To Harry James Potter, I leave also a complete set of my memoirs. They reside in an old box in my house, and I would request they be given to him as soon as this will is read. Therein lies the story of four boys, friends from their first year of Hogwarts and beyond. I hope it serves him well as a way to get to know the father he never knew.'"_

Percy pushed the box towards Harry, who could only stare at him, all expectations blown away by the words he'd just been read. Percy, who looked decidedly awkward, stood and pushed his glasses up his nose again. "Well, the rest of what is on the Will has to wait, since I have some duties to get to, but I hope you enjoy whatever Mr. Lupin had in that box for you, Harry," he said uncomfortably.

"Thanks," Harry mumbled, his eyes now fastened on the box. It was fairly dust coated, and a letter was tied to the top of the box.

"I'll see you at the Burrow tonight," Percy reminded him, "or mum will have my head for not reminding you!"

"Alright. See you, Percy," Harry said, and managed to tear his gaze away from the box long enough to show his guest out, before returning to his living area and staring once more at the box.

He felt strangely hesitant to read the letter, but after several minutes of examining it from a distance, wishing there was more than an old looking envelope to give him a clue, he picked it off of the box, opened it slowly, and pulled out the letter.

 _Harry J. Potter_ , it read on the back. He swallowed, then opened the letter, and started to read.

 _To Harry James Potter,_

 _My name is Remus Lupin, and I am a werewolf. Once I considered myself to be more than that, but now I have nothing left. No one to go to._

 _Sure my father would be glad to have me at home, but it wouldn't be the same, and I can't allow him to take care of me forever, no matter how much I know he wants to. Besides, even home holds too many memories for me now, and without mother, I don't think I could bear it._

 _No . . . I will stay away. Of course I will send him the occasional letter to let him know I'm alright, and I will visit, but nothing more._

 _My name is Remus Lupin, and I am a werewolf._

 _I had friends once, but all of them are gone now. One, betrayed by another to his death, one, killed be that same betrayer, and the third, the one who is a traitor to all that he swore he stood for, and to us, his brothers, locked away forever._

 _He asked to see me, before they shipped him off to Azkaban, but I couldn't do it. Not after what he did to James . . . To Peter . . ._

 _How could he do that to us? He swore, just as the rest of us did, that he would never knowingly (or unknowingly) cause harm to another Marauder, and yet, what did he do as soon as he was placed in the position of utmost trust? He betrayed us all._

 _Here I am now, with no one left, in this tiny hole of an apartment, far from any friends or family who may try to seek me out. I know Dumbledore has already tried, as well as Minerva, and Poppy, but they will leave me be for now. They will allow me to be at peace. I understand their fear, but I will not allow this to break me. I will keep going, for the brothers I have lost, and for the memory of the one who betrayed us all. If he meant to break us, then I will not allow him to succeed._

 _James, Lily, Peter . . . I promise you no vengeance, for even if I came face to face with the man who caused your death, I doubt I would be able to bring myself to harm him. He may have broken his promises, but I remember them, and I will keep them until the day I die._

 _The Marauders . . . A group I thought would last forever . . . We all thought it would, and yet here I stand, the Last Marauder._

 _It's strange to think that we were only friends for ten years . . . It seems too short a time to form the kind of bond that now leaves me in greater pain than I could ever have imagined. Ten years as friends; seven performing the greatest mischief Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry has ever seen, and three spent fighting in a war against the greatest evil our world has seen since Grindlewald._

 _Ten years as friends._

 _Ten years as Brothers._

 _Here I will write our story, and one day . . . One day I will give it to Harry. Yes, James, I will make sure your son knows exactly what happened to you and to Lily._

 _Because once, so long ago, four boys met at Hogwarts, and became the closest of friends. There they shared adventures and horrors, two of them fell in love, three of them saved the one, and all of them found reasons to fight against the very man that left Harry an orphan. He will know everything, from our first days at Hogwarts, to the war we waged against Voldemort._

 _He will hear of our secrets, and our stories. The romances, and the adventures we took together. The Marauders will live on through him, and maybe someday, I will move on from the losses I have seen, and they will live on through me as well._

 _I do not find it likely, as I am still uncertain on what my condition might do to any children I may have, but nonetheless, I will not deny that it is possible._

 _Here I leave you a collection of all our journals, all of my memories, everything that James, Peter, and Sirius ever told me about their side of our experiences. Many things happened to us, and now I can see that they happened for a reason, even if I may not appreciate it._

 _Harry, for I know that one day you will read this (likely in the days following my death), thank you for saving me. Thank you for carrying on the traditions of the Marauders, as I know you will, with James's wits, and your mother's mind and eyes._

 _Here you will read of four brothers, tied together in ways deeper than blood._

 _Even if it was only for ten short years . . ._

 _Allow our legend to unfold._

 _-Remus John Lupin_

 _Tuesday December 1st 1981_

Harry set the letter down on the couch beside him with shaking hands. It had been written by a grieving man of twenty-one, who had just lost, in his mind, all of his friends. It was written by the Remus Lupin who had believed Sirius Black to be the traitor, whilst Peter Pettigrew was a martyr. A hero.

He glanced at the box, and his eyes widened when he saw a newer letter lying there. Immediately he picked it up, and smiled, despite the fact that there were tears burning in the back of his eyes.

 _Harry James Potter,_

 _Harry, Remus explained exactly what this was once I got out of Azkaban— at least, once we managed to spend any sort of time together. He and I have gone through everything and revised a couple of things to improve the accuracy, especially since I am clearly not the traitor! We, the Last Marauders, feel it is of utmost importance that you, the child of our friend, know about your father. I don't anticipate either of us dying any time soon, so we'll likely be giving these to you in person once this blasted war is over, but nonetheless, if that isn't so, Remus told me I had better write this note to explain everything so you wouldn't be turned off by the first one. We've also managed to piece together what happened with Wormtail from some Death Eaters that Remus recently had the pleasure of encountering along with Mad-eye (big help, that bloke), so we will even be able to provide a fairly full account of that._

 _I hope you're reading this while we laugh next to you about how pessimistic Remus is, and I hope we've won the war. Be safe. Keep your friends close. Avoid Snivellus if that Snake is still slithering around._

 _Mischief Managed._

 _-Sirius Orion Black_

 _Friday December 22 1995_

Harry laid his Godfather's letter atop the one from Remus, and opened the box, taking out the thick, leather-bound book. "Hogwarts Years: Year One," was written on the front in Remus's delicate script. Harry James Potter stared at it for a long moment, then picked it up, opened to the very first page, and began to read.

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 **Hello all! This marks the beginning of a realm I have wanted to explore for years. My two favorite characters in Harry Potter happen to be R. J. Lupin, and Sirius Black, and the fact that there is still so little we know of the Marauders has always intrigued me.**

 **This Prologue is serving me in several ways:**

 **1\. It is a preview of the beginning of my Marauders Era Story.**

 **2\. It gives me the opportunity to share my plan with any interested readers.**

 **3\. It allows me to begin the story whilst still writing it.**

 **Allow me to explain. While I have posted this prologue, I do not plan to actually post their First Year of Hogwarts until I have completely _finished writing_ their First Year of Hogwarts. While I started writing this in October of last year, I was only inspired for about a month, and in that time have written most of seven chapters, all of which comprise of around 4000-6000 words. In fact, in two weeks I'd written 20,000 words, and was both surprised, and rather thrilled. I also have a notebook filled with notes on the dates of all of the full moons during their years of Hogwarts and afterwards, the students that may or may not have attended at the same time as them, the members of my made up Gryffindor Quidditch team, and the schematics for a map of Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and the Forbidden Forest, as so far erected by Claire M. Jordan of White Hound. (look it up, her theories and explanations are incredible.)**

 **I am putting a lot of research and effort into this story, and because of this, it may take time for the first year to be complete. I am also finishing my Senior year of High-school in one semester (wish me luck), while applying to colleges for January 2016. I ask any readers to please be patient with me as I work as hard as I can to make this an incredible, canon, rich version of the Marauders Era.**

 **Thank you,**

 **-Brightpath2**


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